


Automat

by KTKuma



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: 20s au, F/F, based on artwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 10:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13121589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KTKuma/pseuds/KTKuma
Summary: It was a cold Christmas Eve and she was alone in the restaurant deep in her thoughts.  That was, until a blonde woman burst into the place.





	Automat

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm a total fucking nerd, but I was taking my art history final, and I was writing about this painting, and I realized I really wanted to write a fic about it, and the idea stuck with me until I finally did. So here is that fic. This is based on Automat by Edward Hopper, so take a peep at that painting before reading it. Or don't, I don't control you.

The cold air swirled around her as she pushed through the glass doors of the automat, and she pulled her scarf closer even as the crisp, hot air washed over her cold cheeks.  It was quiet in the restaurant, save for the door closing behind her, and her heels on the tile.  She made a beeline for the wall of food to the left, not bothering to stop by a table, or even think about anything other than the coffee she so desperately needed.  She even forgot for a moment that she needed to pay for the drink, and she was left fumbling in her purse for her wallet.  She was glad then that there seemed to be no one else in the café area as she swore trying to dig out a nickel.  Coffee in hand, her eyes then trailed over to the bank of windows, most of which were dark, empty at this time of night.  But one illuminated window called to her, and she begrudgingly set her coffee down to pull out a dime and put it in the slot to unlock the door that separated her from the tempting slice of lemon meringue pie.

Prizes in hand, she went and sat down at the table by the front of the restaurant.  She put her items down at the chair facing the large window, but one look at the inky blackness and her own sad expression had her nudging the plates to the opposite side of the table so she could sit looking at the bright artificial lights and forget her worries in the bright, quiet stillness.

Ok, maybe it wasn’t the best idea.  The quiet clink of silverware on porcelain seemed 100 times louder with no one else around.  Her own breathing seemed like too much.  When the radiator kicked on next to her, she welcomed the tinny hiss to break the silence, and wash over her with heat.  She still didn’t remove her coat, and only thought to remove one glove after accidentally catching some lemon curd on the dark leather.

Her mind wandered as she pierced through the sweet pie.  She didn’t want to go home, to her lonely apartment, to the building that would still be bustling with life, even though it was nearly 11 at night on Christmas Eve.  The girls would see her returning, still done up and ask questions.  Why she was late? Did anything happen at the paper?  Had she seen the news about the show looking for pretty redhead?  Why did she look so nice when she only had work?  Was she out on a date?  Who was he?  How did it go?

Just the thought of it made her breath quicken.  She didn’t need to be interrogated in her own home.  She didn’t ask why her neighbors were out every night, so why did they feel the need to ask her?  She wanted to forget the terrible date she went on, that’s why she was home late, alone, and didn’t stay over at his place, or come back with him.  Instead, she came to the lonely little automat, drinking second rate coffee and eating this delicious pie and-

The fork clattered out of her hand as she stabbed it down onto the empty plate, breaking her out of her thoughts.  Her eyes went wide, and if there had been anyone there, she would have felt some sort of embarrassment.  But instead, she just sighed and moved the fork to the plate and picked up her coffee.  She breathed in the calming scent of the coffee and let the swirling liquid bring her back down.  She sipped the drink and scowled at the mark of her red lipstick on the rim.  She was honestly shocked it was still there, after the dinner she had with her date.  And then the time after the dinner.  A shiver went down her spine when she remembered the way he leaned over to her seat to kiss her.  But she had turned her head away and his lips went to her neck.  It was barely a moment later when his hungry hands went to her thigh, and she had to push him away from her, saying that she had to get home, the landlady would be upset if she found out she was with a man.  Of course, he took that as flirtation.  She had to physically push him off her and get out of his car before he got the idea.  And then he called her a bitch and drove off, leaving her on the streets of New York, alone, and late at night.  And that was how she found herself here.  She choked back the disgust, which tasted like bile, to take another drink of her coffee.  As she placed it back down on the saucer, a single tear fell into the black liquid, disturbing it for just a moment.  Fuck.  Now she was crying about this.  Now she was _really_ glad that there was no one here.  She didn’t need a waiter asking if she was alright.  She was decidedly _not_ alright, but she was not just about to tell a random stranger about her troubles.  She wiped away the tears beginning to well up and sucked down the rest of her coffee, the pleasing burn of the warmth bringing her back to reality.

She was considering another cup of coffee when the door to the automat opened again.  The warmth she had begun to know and love quickly replaced with cold.  She would have growled to close the door when she saw the pretty blonde hugging her friends and waving goodbye.  Maybe she wouldn’t.  Also, because judging by how loud she was, and the slight wobble to her steps, she could tell this lady was a little drunk.  The blonde hummed tunelessly as she dragged her hands along the wall of food before ending up at the coffee.  She happily fumbled with the mechanism and cheered quietly when her cup began to fill with hot coffee.  She scooped up a tray and scooted along the serving area, picking up a few items, occasionally forgetting that she had to pay for the items first, or dropping her coin onto the tray.  She laughed, watching the blonde drunkenly demand food from the machine when she couldn’t get the knob to turn and take her money.  She came up behind the blonde and moved her hands to take over, succeeding in freeing the vanilla cake from its chilled prison.

“Yay!  Thank you!”  The blonde nearly shouted.  It was the first interaction she had in nearly an hour.  She was still aghast when the blonde threw her arms around her shoulders and hugged her close.  She could feel her face go red.  “You are a lifesaver!  It was just… so hard to open…” The blonde pouted as she pulled away.

“It’s… no trouble.  Though I imagine they are easier when you aren’t drunk.” She was shocked that she found her voice in front of the beautiful blonde.

Blondie’s mouth dropped open, “Is it that obvious?” It was like she was trying to whisper, but it was just as loud as the words she was responding to.

“Um, yeah.”  She nodded and pulled away to disengage.  She would leave blondie to her tray full of food and drink to sober up before she moved on to… wherever she was going with her life.

But just as she sat down to contemplate life in an empty coffee cup, a tray was placed down across from her.  “I’m Barbara.” Blondie – Barbara – sat down in the seat across from her.  “What’s your name?”

She looked around the entire diner, noticing all the empty seats and tables.  “There are other places to sit, you don’t have to sit with me.”

“I know.  But you look lonely and friendly, and I hate eating alone.  What’s your name, Red?” Barbara picked up her sandwich and took a large bite, satisfaction washing over her face.

She opened her mouth to say something about her situation, but… Barbara was kind of right, “Lindsay.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Lindsay.  What brings you here?” Barbara smiled through her bite, her beam warming Lindsay’s heart more than any pie or coffee ever could.

“Um, a date went bad, and I was cold and didn’t want to go home yet.”  These were the sort of questions she wanted to avoid at home, but here she was, answering them for a complete stranger.

“I understand.  That sounds terrible, especially on Christmas Eve, and to such a beauty like you.  But I guess it was good, because it brought me to you.  I was out at a party, but really needed to stop before I went home.  I am starving, and if the landlady found out I was out getting drunk, well, she probably wouldn’t be my landlady anymore.  She made that clear the last time.”  She took another bite of her sandwich and looked at Lindsay’s empty cup.  “Let me buy you another cup of coffee.  For keeping me company, and saving me from the difficult machines.”  She stood up and immediately grabbed onto the back of chair to keep herself upright.  “That’s right.  Still drunk.”

Lindsay laughed, hiding it behind her still gloved hand, “Maybe you can just give me the nickel and you can sit there.  I don’t want you falling over, or getting confused by the coffee machine.”

“Hey!  I got the coffee successfully!”  Barbara pouted, but still sat down and slid the nickel over to Lindsay.

“It took you far longer than it should have, though.” Lindsay took her coffee cup and headed over to the coffee machine.  What was she doing?  She shouldn’t have let this woman talk to her.  She should have gone home.  She didn’t need to latch onto the one woman who wanted to talk to her and pretend like she had a chance with her.  She still wasn’t sure it wasn’t because she couldn’t get a man that she felt this way about women… but she was pretty and nice, and there was no harm in making a friend.  So she filled her cup and walked back over to her table, where Barbara was finishing up her sandwich and happily humming about how good it was.

“I love coming here after parties.  There’s usually more people, and I like to watch them and think about what their lives are like.  I never get to talk to pretty ladies like you, though.”

Ok, that was definitely flirting… right?

“Aw, did that make you blush?  You’re so cute.”  Barbara clinked her coffee cup against Lindsay’s and took a long drink.  “Oh!” She nearly dropped her cup back into its saucer, “did you want any booze in that?” Barbara quickly dove into her purse and pulled out a small flask.

Lindsay was taken aback by how forward Barbara was about it.  Sure, there was no one else around, but someone could have heard.  What if there was staff coming to clean, or replenish the food?  “Why do you just have that?”

“In case I need it.” Barbara shrugged, “You don’t have to, but I thought that maybe your night would be improved if you had a shot.”

Lindsay looked between Barbara’s blue eyes, and the brushed steel of the flask before reaching for the flask.  It wouldn’t hurt, right?  She opened the flask and poured a small amount of brown, sharp smelling liquid into her coffee.  She took an experimental sip and felt her grimace before the warmth began to tingle into her fingers and toes.

“Good, right?”

“It certainly is… something.”

Barbara continued with her meal while chatting with Lindsay about her night, never asking Lindsay for more than what she offered up willingly.  Though the alcohol seemed to help her open up a bit more, and at one point she asked to take a shot directly from Barbara’s flask.  By the time that Barbara finished with her meal, she was only slightly more inebriated than Lindsay who had suddenly decided she need to spill her guts about her feelings about the man she had went on a date with.  Though she choked up when she got to the part about him trying to touch her.  Barbara reached her hand out to help pull Lindsay away from the hurt that was beginning to well up in her eyes.

“You don’t have to continue, Lindsay.  He was terrible, and you shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

Lindsay took a deep breath, hating how ragged it was, and squeezed Barbara’s hand.  “Thank you for sitting with me, Barbara.  I didn’t realize how much I needed it.”  She stood and took up her dishes, getting ready to bus them when she saw how late it was.  “Oh, my landlady isn’t going to be happy…”  Barbara stood beside her, and wobbled again, bracing herself on the chair and clattering her dishes.  “And yours won’t be either, it seems.” Lindsay took the dishes out of Barbara’s hands and took them over the bussing station for her.

Barbara was pulling on her coat and hat when Lindsay returned.  “Thank you for staying with me, Lindsay.  I guess I’ll figure out how to get sober on the way home.  Maybe the walk will help.” Barbara tried to pull her glove on the wrong way around and frowned when it didn’t work.

“Why don’t you come stay with me, tonight?  My apartment is right around the corner.” Lindsay helped Barbara pull her gloves on correctly, making her smile.

“That would be mighty kind of you, Lindsay.  I don’t mean to intrude.”  She folded Lindsay’s hand in her own, letting it fall between them, still connected.

“It wouldn’t be any trouble at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments will make me love you, and I will think of you when I eat a warm cookie.
> 
> tumblr = theloveandthestuff
> 
> love you all


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